We go to a lot of trade shows during the year and we see a lot of the same corporate gift ideas over an over. However, we came across a new product that we think will be very popular this year, especially during the holiday season. Pure Canadian Maple Syrup in engraved bottles. It doesn’t sound like much until you actually see the engraved bottles for yourself. There are four different shapes, everything from a maple leaf design in four different sizes, a tall thin bottle- like those you would see for Olive Oil or designer vinegar, a jug shape bottle of syrup and a fat oval shape. Each of the maple syrup bottles have cute names for each design, but the actual look and the taste of the delicious syrup inside is what makes these corporate gifts so unique. For more information and pricing visit: http://GourmetFoodGiftPeople.com

It is really amazing how food plays such a big part in our lives. We use corporate food gifts to thank our customers sometimes with a logo and sometimes not. We start morning meetings with fresh coffee and danish or to get a large crowd to an Realtor open house or meeting, food usually plays a big part too. I have never really been a fan of cooking. It is the big clean up that I don’t really like. If I make the mess while I am attempting to cook, then I am the one to clean up and that has never appealed to me. However, the most fun I have had in the past two years is watching my son cook, and filming his “Cooking with Tristan” cooking show. We have spent two or three hours filming a food segment that might last less than 10 minutes. It is the bond that has brought us together. The bloopers and the laughing are so much fun and even when I am looking through all the clips to decide which to keep and which stay on the kitchen floor these segments bring a smile to my face or a laugh out loud! Once again, it is food that brought us together and plays a large part in our lives. I am sure that food does this for your family too.

Tristan’s latest episode “Seafood Macaroni and Cheese” is still a work in progress of his acting abilities. But that doesn’t hurt the fact that this recipe is scrumptious! As with all recipes you need to make them your own. So add a little more cheese or a little less shrimp because ultimately you know what you like and it is fun to experiment with recipes. Give this “Cooking with Tristan” episode a try and let us know what you think by going to Tristan’s facebook page.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Kelly one of our CEShoppes team members sent out her recipe for Holiday Eggnog Bread pudding –We made it Thanksgiving morning while watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was quick and easy and soooooo delicious. Especially if you serve it warm and top it with warm maple syrup. We are going to make it again for our Christmas morning brunch, however this time I am going to add a couple tablespoons of Brandy and top it with Cinnamon and Pumpkin Spice. –Here is the recipe:

Eggnog Bread Pudding

4 large eggs

1 qt eggnog

10 slices of cinnamon bread

Heat oven to 350º. Coat 2 qt baking dish with nonstick spray.

Whisk eggs and eggnog until blended. Cut 4 slices of bread into cubes and arrange on the bottom of the dish. Pour half of the eggnog mixture over the bread cubes. Cut remaining bread in half diagonally and arrange on top. Pour remaining eggnog mixture over all.

Give the gift of custom chocolates as holiday business gifts. When you add your logo and beautiful packaging, its gift giving made simple!

Make a BIG impression with our 2 lb custom chocolate gift bars – These chocolate gift bars are our most talked about gift. Some say they are almost too beautiful to eat – But they will eventually give in to temptation and they will remember your thoughtfulness long after the candy is gone!

When you can’t decide whether to give milk chocolate or dark chocolate why not send BOTH in the same gift? Two tone chocolate gift bars feature a dark chocolate centerpiece in different shapes and sizes and are engraved with your logo. Your logo is then highlighted by a creamy milk chocolate background and wrapped in the packaging of your choice like a full color box or a designer holiday gift box with bow.

For something really extraordinary – send premium truffles. Handmade truffles made in our own factories, in an array of sizes, packaging and flavors. These truffles can be sent in small packages with your logo on the box lid all the way up to our larger truffles that feature a delicious chocolate centerpiece with your logo engraved in the middle surrounded by flavorful chocolate truffles. And if you’re looking for brand name recognition in truffles, send Godiva Chocolates or Lindt Truffles in unique packaging with your logo – an easy co-brand for the holiday season!

During the holiday season you may need to send a gift that can be shared with everyone in the whole office. A chocolate assortment is a great way to go. These chocolate assortments feature dark & milk chocolate squares surrounding an engraved centerpiece with your logo or you can replace the dark and milk chocolate squares with delicious candy confections or premium nuts. The choice is yours!

And let’s not forget a gift of scrumptious chocolate covered logo cookies!! A variety of packaging is available including Currier and Ives tins, as well as beautiful gift boxes to complete this holiday business gift presentation.

Does your business have something to do with transportation? Do you have trucks out on the road delivering goods or services? There are many hand crafted trucks, semi-trailers, and trains that can have your logo imprinted on the side of these collectible gifts and shipped with candy or nuts to your recipient. Each year you can build upon this by sending different types of vehicles. Each year your gift will be anticipated as they wonder what type of vehicle will be added to their collection.

Cookie tins are another holiday business gift collectible idea. So many people collect cookie tins. They use them as decorations for the holiday season, they re-gift them and they use them to keep the cookies they bake during the holidays fresh. Start a tradition by designing your own full color cookie tin. Have a contest with your employees or clients for the design each year to make them extra special. Don’t forget to add the year, so everyone will know when the cookies were given.

Either way, you now have a holiday gift your business clients can look forward to receiving.

Food Gifts are the number one business gift of the holiday season. Businesses purchase more holiday gifts during the months of November and December than they do all year. CEShoppes®, has been in the food business for over 15 years – we actually started with our own food gift business before the addition of corporate logo business gifts. We understand our customers’ needs and we taste every food item before we add it to our Gourmet Food Gift webshoppe. Our Maple Ridge Farms Business Food Gift line is the most requested, with the most repeat business year after year. Here are 9 facts that tell you why you should order from CEShoppes®, a distinguished distributor for Maple Ridge Farms.
1. Convenience! Instead of sending an employee to the local retail store or having them spend hours on the internet trying to find just the right gifts – CEShoppes®, Gourmet Food Gift People webshoppe has hundreds of food gift items in a multitude of price points.

2. Gifts, from our Maple Ridge Farms line promotes your company and brand, not that of CEShoppes® or a big name retailer like many mail order companies do. When the recipient opens their gifts, the first thing they’ll see is your logo.

3. As with all our promotional food gift lines we have value driven pricing. Volume purchasing and the absence of certain middle-men, allows you to purchase fine quality Maple Ridge Farms gifts for less than you would have to pay elsewhere for stuffy overpriced brand names.

4. Fresher gifts taste better! Our gifts are packed to order just before the order is shipped. NOT made up many months in advance like so many gifts from the mail- order and retail giants.

6. We are experts at drop shipping! With every corporate food gift we offer, we have the ability to ship your gifts directly to your recipient. We can even enclose your greeting or business card.

7. No catalogs or promotional literature in your client’s gifts. For the giant food gift companies, including their catalog and promotional literature is a very common practice. We never put your catalog or promotional literature in your gifts.

Think about the number of times you have received food gifts during the holiday season. Do you remember how good the food tasted? Do you remember who sent you the gift? Corporate cookie gifts make wonderful business gifts. Long ago when business was at its peak, companies used to send individual gifts to their clients. But now with budgets still considered tight, many businesses have opted to send a larger gift for an office to share, instead of to one recipient.

When selecting a cookie company, make sure they actually manufacturer the cookies you will be sending or at least package them fresh from the oven the same day they ship. Often times, especially with the big box stores, and the specialty clubs the cookie gifts are package months ahead and filled with preservatives, so that when your customer receives your gift it doesn’t taste fresh, the way it should. A good cookie manufacturer will bake cookies and ship them on the same day. This way your recipient will receive the freshest quality gift and remember who sent it to them.

Now is the time to start thinking about ordering cookie samples. Be prepared to pay for the cookie samples and/or shipping costs. Some companies may also offer to send you a spec sample with your logo or design so you can get a feel for how your design will look once you have placed your order. Four color process canisters can be used as commemorative collector canisters, come up with a new design each year, add the date and now you have a tin that your clients will look forward to adding to their collection – they are also perfect for weddings, thank you gifts, company anniversaries, corporate outings and holiday gifts. If you want your tins sure to be kept, make sure that your photo or 4 color art is actually printed right on the lid, not placed on a label or a sticker.

We just added this new Sunshine Toaster to our collection of corporate gifts for 2011. The toaster is a great item to add to your office lunchroom, or provide as gifts to your customer’s for their home or office kitchens. The cute little Sunshine design is burned right in to the toast – a very happy way to start each day. Your company logo can be added very subtly to the toaster. And if you really want to be bold, you can have a special die created so that your corporate logo can be burned in to the toast instead of the happy sunshine.

CEShoppes® has thousands of gift ideas for your clients and your employees. Our Christmas in July promotional sale can save you a lot of money on your holiday business gifts. Order prior to August 15 and you will receive EQP on your entire holiday gift order. That means a huge savings for your holiday gift list. In case you are not sure what EQP is, it just means that if you order at least the minimum quantity for the item you want to send to your business customers or employees – you will pay the amount shown in the far right column. An example is shown on the Official Christmas in July promotions rules page.

Giving gourmet cookies, logo chocolates or a tower of treats to a few people or a few hundred people is very easy! Place your order, give us your list as the time gets closer to your ship date and we do all the work. We can even insert greeting cards, or logo items in with your personalized gifts and ship them directly to your recipients.

Food gifts are the number 1 business gift for the holiday season. Instead of promoting the name of David or Harry or Ms. Fields, Beasly or any other large food gift company who prints their name all over the packaging, promote your company name with logo ribbon, logo chocolate gifts, and logo tins. You want your customers to remember you, not them.

New food related gift items are being added to our gourmet food gift website over the next week. We are very excited about all of the new offerings, and we are sure that your business customers will love these delicious gifts too: Things like Cheesecake Samplers, Italian Style Cheeses with nuts and truffles, and our new sugar coated bling cookies are just some of the new food gift ideas that will be added this month.